Brackla ( cy, Bracla) is a large housing estate and

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

in the east of

Bridgend Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge ...

Bridgend County Borough Bridgend County Borough ( cy, Bwrdeistref Sirol Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr) is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. The county borough has a total population of 139,200 people, and contains the town of Bridgend, after which it is named. It ...

, Wales. Along with the communities of

and

Coychurch Lower Coychurch Lower is a community (Wales), community in Bridgend County Borough, South Wales. Along with the communities of Brackla and Bridgend (community), Bridgend, it makes up the town of Bridgend. Coychurch Lower is the eastern district of Brid ...

, it makes up the town of Bridgend. At the 2001 census the community of Brackla had a population of 10,113, increasing to 11,749 at the 2011 Census, making up nearly a quarter of Bridgend's population.

History

Until 1936, the of land occupied east to west by the

Bridgend Industrial Estate Bridgend Industrial Estate is a large industrial park complex in Bridgend, Wales. It is made up of three adjoining Industrial Estates, being Waterton, Bridgend, and North Road and incorporating a retail park in Waterton. History It was built on ...

, Brackla and the Brackla Industrial Estate was farmland. In 1936, in view of the increasing likelihood of war with Germany, the British Government decided to build two new

Royal Ordnance Factories Royal Ordnance Factories (ROFs) was the collective name of the UK government's munitions factories during and after the Second World War. Until privatisation, in 1987, they were the responsibility of the Ministry of Supply, and later the Ministr ...

, including one at Bridgend on the site of what is now Bridgend Industrial Estate. To store munitions, they dug eight long shafts under Brackla Hill, connecting it to two new ordnance factories on what is now Brackla Industrial Estate. Both facilities were connected to the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

South Wales Main Line The South Wales Main Line ( cy, Prif Linell De Cymru), originally known as the London, Bristol and South Wales Direct Railway or simply as the Bristol and South Wales Direct Railway, is a branch of the Great Western Main Line in Great Britain. ...

, with the line to the Brackla facility running along what is now Church Acre. At its peak, ROF 53 employed some 40,000 people, and was the biggest single factory in

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, ROF 53 stopped production at the end of 1945, and closed completely by the end of 1946. The land was sold to property developers, with that north of the railway developed for housing.

Nuclear Bunker

In the late 1960s, two of the former munitions tunnels were redeveloped by the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

on behalf of the Home Office as a nuclear command bunker for South Wales, designated SRHQ 8.2. Brackla became the regional control centre for all of Wales, redesignated RGHQ 8.2. Sold in 1996, it has been derelict ever since.

Governance

Brackla was the name of the

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

, coterminous with the community. The ward elected four county councillors to

Bridgend County Borough Council Bridgend County Borough Council ( cy, Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr) is the governing body for Bridgend County Borough, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. History Bridgend County Borough and Bridgend County Borough Council came ...

. Following a local government boundary review, the Brackla ward was divided into four single-member electora wards: Brackla West, Brackla West Central, Brackla East Central, Brackla East and Coychurch Lower. This was effective from the 2022 local elections. At the community level, Brackla elects 11 community councillors (and one youth councillor) to Brackla Community Council.

Today

Brackla has four primary schools; Brackla Primary, Tremains Primary; Archdeacon John Lewis Church in Wales School & Ysgol Cymraeg Bro Ogwr.

Archbishop McGrath Catholic High School Archbishop McGrath Catholic High School is a secondary school located in Brackla, Bridgend. The school has a reputation of having highly talented musicians and in 2011 achieved grades far above the national average. 80% of students stay on to ...

is a secondary school in the area. Brackla contains a small shopping centre, named the Triangle, consisting of a supermarket (a Co-operative Supermarket) and other convenience stores (a

Well Pharmacy Well, formerly known as The Co-operative Pharmacy, is the largest independent pharmacy business and the third largest overall pharmacy chain after Boots UK and Lloyds Pharmacy in the United Kingdom. It is the largest pharmacy chain in Wales. Fo ...

branch, amongst others). Brackla has only three

Public Houses A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

situated in the area. Brackla Community Council has recently begun work to gain Nature Reserve status for the local Tremains Wood. The area had come under abuse in recent years and the council aims to clean it up, with the eventual aim of replacing the bridges and have structured woodland walkways.

Transport

During World War II, the GWR station called Tremains Halt provided service to ROF 53 and afterwards to the trading estate. The station closed in the early 1960s. There is an ongoing investigation by Bridgend Borough Council to install a

Park and Ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuting, commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail t ...

facility on the former station site, to serve both Brackla and the wider Bridgend area.

References

External links

Brackla Community Council
{{authority control Bridgend Villages in Bridgend County Borough Communities in Bridgend County Borough Former wards of Bridgend County Borough